Bag filling apparatus



y R. 'J. WILLIAMS ET AL v2,403,149

BAG FILLING APPARATUS Filed NOV. 15, 1943 39 FIG. I. /5 3/37 PatentedJuly 2, 1946 BAG FILLING APPARATUS Russell J. Williams,

Arthur S. Littlefield, to Bemis Bro. Bag

Richmond Heights, and

St. Louis, Mo.,- assignors corporation of Missouri ApplicationNovember15, 19.43, SerialNo. 510,262

1 Claim.

This invention relates to bag filling apparatus, and with regard tocertain more specific features, to filling chutes for filling bags withsolid slabs of material, boxes, cartons and the like.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision ofconvenient means for mounting and holding open bags in position toreceive articles which it is desired to package; and the provision ofapparatus of the class described which will conveniently release thebags for removal and closure. Other objects will be in part obvious andin part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations ofelements, features of construction; and arrangements of parts which willbe exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the following claim.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated one of of theinvention,

Fig. 1 is a plan view on a reduced scale showing our chute applied tothe end of a gravity roller conveyor;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation scale; and,

Figs. 3 and 4 are further enlarged detail sections taken respectively onlines 3-3 and 6-4 of Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawing.

In filling paper bags and the like with-closely fitting slabs ofmaterial such as synthetic rubber, there is usually considerableconfusion on the part of the operator rectangular bag mouth shape whichwill easily receive the slabs without requiring, an undue size of bag,which would leave slack material of Fig. 1 on a. larger around thearticle after packaging. Difiiculty is also encountered in slowly enoughgravitating the slabs to the bag bottoms without damaging the bags. Theinvention avoids these dififlculties and speeds packaging operations.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, there is shown atnumeral .l a. gravity type roller conveyor, the lower end of which is ona support 3. Down this conveyor come slabs of material (synthetic rubberslabs for example) which need to be packaged at high speed in bags suchas indicated at 1 without damage to the bags. To provide for this wearrange an operatively fixed sloping slide platform 9 located at about a45 to 60 degree angle to the datum D.

various possible embodimentsin producing a precisely .and the adjacentside wall I5.

at E9. The lower ends of mpany, St. Louis, Mo., a

At BI is shown a right-angular trough-shaped uide member which has afiat bottom 53 and vertical side walls 95. the bottom I3 is curved asshown at I? to provide a fulcrum for the oncoming slabs 5. The upperends of the walls 65 are flared outward as shown these walls are tapereddownward toward the bottom l3 as indicated at 2|. The lower wedge ends27 are not flared.

The bottom I3 is supported above the platform 9 by means of laterallylocated supports 23. This is done in such a way as'to allow space 25between the bottom !3 and said platform t. Thus a partially opened bagmay readily be applied to the lower wedge portions 27 on the walls 55.Then, as the bag is pushed up, its bottom wall is accommodated betweenthe guide bottom l3 and the platform 9 while it is expanded intorectangular shape.

In order to hold a bag in the attained position above described whichFig. 2, the lateral supports 23 are provided with forwardly directedlugs 29 on which pivot clutch dogs 3!. The pivots are shown at 33. Thelugs 23 are attached by laterally adjustable bolt-andslot connections36.

Each dog 3| carries on its inner end (toward the adjacent wall it) awedge-shaped clutching segment 35, having a. bag-guiding tail piece 37.On the other end each dog carries a release finger 39. Clockwiserotation of the dog shown in Fig. 3 causes contact between its clutchmember Counter-clockwise rotation separates said contact. Motion of thebag upward over the walls l5 causes its mouth end to be guided by thetail piece 3?] to a. position in between the clutch member 35 and thewall I5. The direction of the bag motion for such action is shown by thearrow in Fig. 3 in connection with the dotted-line. showing of the bagwall. Reverse motion of the bag tends automatically frictionally toclose the olutch35. Thus a bag, When once applied, is held in positionagainst axial force applied to it by an entering article which seatsagainst its bottom.

To rotate the dog 3| to release position a bail 4| is pivoted behind andabove the dogs as indicated at 43. The bail has two collinear pivots onopposite sides of the guide or chute II and loops under the platform 9.At its upper end it carries cams 44, which, when the bail is swung for--position shown in Fig. 2, 39 to move the dogs 3| The bale is easilyreached The upper inlet end of is shown by solid lines in operatorworking near the I bracket 23 by the slot and der control. It

-. by gravity but is platform 9. The lugs 28 being'adjustable on thebolt combination'all allow for taking up any wear of the clutch 35 andalso allow for initial adjustments for variations in bag wallthicknesses.

After a bag has been sl pped up into position, as shown in solid linesin Fig. 2,

anoncoming slab is tilted onto the fulcrum I1 and slidesdown between theguide wall l5 into the bag and against its bottom. 7 The slope of theapparatus is arranged so that the velocity of the slab is low enough toavoid damage to'the bag bottom (and to avoid tearing at the clutches 35)This action seats the slab (0r bundle of slabs) in the bag and shapesthe bag automatically, its mouth having already been properly shaped bythe chute. Next, the operator pulls forward filled bag slides down underfrictional control to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2. Fromthis position it may be tilted upward for closing and removal. a

Advantages of the invention are a convenient means for bringing a bagmouth up over the chute, whereupon the bag is automatically opened intoproper slab-receiving, rectangular shape of the mouth, and wherein it isautomatically held until conveniently filled simply by tilting anarticle and allowing it to slide down unthe bale 4|, causing theclutches 35 to release, whereupon the will be noted that the slab doesside of a bag, side walls scent is also an advantage. In addition, thebail is quite easily reached for release of .the filled bag.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in the above construction withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

We claim:

Bag filling apparatus comprising an operatively fixed slide platformsloping up from a datum toward an article-receiving point, anoperatively fixed chute mounted on said platformnear its upper end andcomprising a bottom spaced over and substantially parallel to theplatform to accommodate between it and the platform one on the chutetapered at their lower ends to function as Spreaders for a I bag mouth,the bottom of which mouth is placed on the platform and moved up underthe chute bottom while the sides of the mouth become placed fiatwiseoutside of said side walls and the top of the mouth spans between saidwalls, fric-' tion clutch means at the outsides of said walls and biasedthereto, both of said clutch means when biased freely admitting saidmouth sides but preventing retraction of the bag'when loaded, beingthereby operable automatically to hold a bag applied to the chute fromthe bottom, and manual means for simultaneously overcoming the biases ofthe clutch means for simultaneously releasing both of said automaticclutch means at the will of an ope ator.

I RUSSELL J. WILLIAMS.

S. LITTLEFIELJ).

